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THE NAME.

THE EVERLASTING FATHER," THE AUTHOR OF ETERNAL LIFE.

VERSE 37.

He whose Works are unsearchable, gives His word, that, his fatherly compassion towards Israel would never be exhausted. However high the Wisdom necessary to work their Redemption, it is found in Him; however deeply the House of Israel may have sunk, His Arm could reach to, and save them.

"Thus saith the Lord,

If heaven above can be measured,

And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,

I will also cast off all the seed of Israel,
For all that they have done, saith the Lord."

THE fatherly compassion of the God of Israel is as everlasting as his wisdom is infinite, and his power almighty. Many, and, it is supposed, successful, attempts, have been made to measure the distances of sun, moon, and stars from each other, and from the earth; but the heaven itself who can measure? Even the heavenly city can be measured; and the God of Israel hath condescended to speak to them of the ample dimensions of that glorious abode: upon the gates of which are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, from whom the glorified church will be found to be chiefly formed; and whatever the distance of that city from the earth, we know that it will, at the appointed time, descend out of heaven from God, and be so near as that the nations of the saved may walk in the light of it; whilst those who shall be kings and priests unto God, will inhabit, in immortal and glorified bodies, the many mansions of that house which is from hea

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and undefiled, and that fadeth not away? The rich reward which is with Him; and with which He will meet those that go forth to meet Himwhich He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him? Do we not see the immeasurable condescension of the love of God already manifested in the gift of his Son, into our world, even when so unprepared to meet him, to welcome him as the promised Deliverer? And if He hath already come to earn in our very nature that glorious reward for the people as being given the divine nature, can we doubt that His goodness will bestow it? May we not say even the justice of God will reach to the procuring for his redeemed that which hath been so dearly purchased for them? As truly as this immeasurable mercy is promised, it is promised to the outcast house of Israel. The boundless love of God in the gift of his Son, while presented to mankind generally, was especially designed for Israel. This was the expressed design of God; and we are not to think that the hand which plucked them up, and cast them forth of the land, cast them so far away, as that the goodness designed for them could not reach them.

The place in which they are chiefly be found is no evidence of a want of fatherly kindness on the part of the

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THE FATHER'S CARE FOR HIS OUTCASTS.

God of Israel. An insular position was the best fitted for protection against immediate assault, or the needless interference of neighbouring states; and for the giving them the advantages of the deep that coucheth beneath. It was also of importance that they should be placed so as to receive whatever advantages were to be derived from the old world, whilst they can also afford the most convenient depot for the productions of the new.Their position leads them to an acquaintance with the south; and equally, a sympathy with the inhabitants of the north. The Baltic and Mediterranean were equally accessible, upon which they might try their youthful power of navigating. But now they have launched forth into the wide ocean on all sides; and that not as the sport of the winds, as of old, but with a direct course, and with wonderful precision as to time. In order to possess this power to the fullest extent, it was needful that we should not only possess the chief things of the ancient mountains (such as the oaks of Bashan), but that we also should have at hand the chief things of the lasting hills-the rich, because most useful, mineral treasures, with which our God hath stored this islandthe place prepared for the people, that he intended should act so important a part in the affairs of the world-east, west, north, and south-at the time these minerals should be so remarkably in requisition; and without which England could not fulfil her mission. The iron was necessary to the formation of railways, and especially for the production of machinery; and abundance of coal, for the putting that ma chinery in motion; and for availing ourselves, to the fullest extent, of steam power, both for production, as in our manufactures, and for transmission by land or by water. And with these we required to have an intelligent and industrious population, capable of making use of these materials to the fullest extent:-And also having the greatest occasion to use

them on account of widely-extended connections with other parts of the globe, by commerce or colonization.The island we inhabit, would, to many another people, have been a magazine of mineral treasures in vain. Neither the people, the place, nor the occasion, was the production of chance; but each is fitted to the other, according to the arrangement of eternal and infinite wisdom. Truly that word hath been verified with regard to the people who were supposed to be lost in the depths of the sea, Ps. cxxxix 9, 10— "If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold

me."

When the Lord laid the foundations of the earth, he had in view the people who were to dwell upon it.And when the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. When He was casting them out of the Land, He was no less leading them, to make to himself a glorious name, than when He was leading their fathers out of Egypt. He was bringing the outcast woman into the wilderness, that he might bring her into the place which had been prepared for her, and where her Lord might lead her forth; as setting his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the earth. And, having given her those wonderful facilities for traversing both, which he hath given, we cannot doubt but at length he will accomplish to her his promise of bringing her seed from the east, and gathering her from the west, with all that vast accumulation of means, whereby, as having received the promised anointing from on high, the chosen people are appointed to herald his second and glorious advent, unto every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.

Some entrance has been made into the strong foundations of the earth; but although their treasures have in a measure been laid open, and it is now

THEY MAY WELL DECLARE THEIR FATHER'S LOVE.

becoming apparent for what they have been there placed, yet they have not been, nor can they be, searched out. How strong is the assurance of Jehovah! How plain the word! and yet how ignorant, or how unbelieving, man has been with regard to it! "Thus

saith the Lord, If heaven above can be measured, or the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord." It is not the Jews who are here referred to, but that house which was called the whole house of Israel, all the seed of Israel, or All Israel-the great body of the people, as contrasted with the remnant of Israel, the Jews. It is Jezreel, the seed of God, that the Lord cast out of the land, but that were so cast away in order that they might be sown among the nationsthat the seed might be in many waters -where they were to spring up as willows by the water-courses. They

were to remember Him in far countries to live with their children and turn again, bearing with them the wealth of all nations as an offering to the Lord.

It was the people who had done all that we know Israel to have done, as to forsaking the Lord and abusing his mercies neglecting his word, and persecuting his prophets, and ascribing that glory to themselves, or their idols, that belonged to the only wise God, their strong Deliverer - It was the seed of this people, and not people of altogether another race in their room, that the Lord promised to preserve, forgive, and bless. This is the people who were to appearance cast off, and in whose casting off the inhabitants of Jerusalem appear to have rejoiced. Long before Jeremiah prophesied, they had been carried out of their land, and conveyed away into what themselves seem to have thought hopeless captivity; when accordingly they gave themselves up, to be merged among the Gentiles. But the thoughts of the Lord were not as man's thoughts, nor

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The Lord perform it,

his ways as man's ways. was hastening his word to and that even as to the mercy promised unto their fathers. And the evidence of their not being cast off will be given, not only in favours out of the land, but in the fulness of a blessed return. As truly as the Lord caused the captivity of Judah to return from Babylon, so truly will He cause the captivity of Israel to return, as at the first. Truly a people so recovered may be well prepared to declare the forgiving grace of God unto others, when themselves have been made such a signal example of divine mercy. They will sympathise with the apostle of the Gentiles, when he said, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me, first, Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe in him unto life everlasting."

Truly may Israel say, as in Psalm ciii. 10, 11, 13, 17, " He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities: For as the heaven is high above the earth, great is his mercy towards them that fear him." "Like as a father pitieth his children, the Lord pitieth them that fear him." "The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him; and his righteousness unto children's children."

Israel might be lost as to their earthly parentage; but being begotten again unto a lively hope by the gospel;-being born again of the incorruptible seed of the Word;-Christ having become to them the Author of eternal life-they were at length to be found exclaiming, "Though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not, yet doubtless thou art Our Father, Thy Name from everlasting." "In thee the fatherless findeth mercy."

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THE NAME.

V. THE PRINCE OF PEACE," THE KING OF SALEM.

VERSES 38-40.

Jerusalem, whose Name means the Sight of Peace, but which heretofore has been the scene of such trouble, shall be re-built as it never yet has been. Then shall the Prince of Peace sit upon the Throne of his father David. Then shall Zion be holy unto the Lord, and Salem be worthy of its Name.

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,

That the city shall be built to the Lord,

From the Tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it,
Upon the hill Gareb,

And shall compass about to Goath.

And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes,
And all the fields, unto the brook of Kidron,

Unto the corner of the horse-gate toward the east,
Shall be holy unto the Lord;

It shall not be plucked up,

Nor thrown down, any more for ever."

THE Lord, as the God of Providence who hath wrought so wondrously in judgment with regard to both his people and their land, has, as we have seen, pledged himself that he will, through grace, work as wondrously in their behalf-in behalf of both Israel and Judah; and, having recognised them as the children of those very fathers whom He redeemed from Egyptian bondage, and who broke the covenant He then made with the chosen nation-He has promised to receive these, the descendants of those undeserving fathers, into the enjoy ment of his counsel of peace. privileges of the New Covenant, promulgated in the Gospel, are, therefore, more especially theirs. Having also referred to his mighty power as directing, upholding, and controlling, the various movements of creation, whether in heaven or upon the earth, He hath given his word, that the people for whom the covenant was provided, and who to the eye of man seemed to be lost, will be preserved unto the performance of the promises made unto them. And, having alluded to

The

the immeasurable height of the heavens and the unsearchable foundations of the earth, He has declared his mercy to be equally unexhaustible with regard to Israel; who, indeed, seemed to be cast off, but who will yet be able to inderstand the word that He hath spoken, "I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away."

Yea, although we have sinned against him, times and ways without number, his fatherly compassions have been great towards us still. Although we had wandered far from him, and had utterly forgotten our resting place, we were never hid from the eye of our God; and He hath been overruling even the physical changes on our globe for our advantage; and He hath been instructing us in the laws according to which the operations of nature are conducted, that we might avail ourselves of his knowledge in the production of works, whereby to manifest the power of the life we have in Him. And especially hath he, with as constant a course as that whereby the laws of nature proceed, sent the offers of New Testament grace unto his

THE PRESENT AND FUTURE POINTS OF CENTRALIZATION.

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people who have been led into the place prepared; and, together with his word, hath he also sent or provided the means, whereby his truth may be declared unto others, as well as enjoyed by themselves, so far as is fitting in their present position out of the land, which He gave unto our fathers, and upon which He hath promised yet to build and to plant both the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

The distinguished maritime position, which the Lord's chosen people have been given out of the land, was the best fitted for the time and circumstances. In no other situation that we know, could they have been so well prepared, or could they have acquired such a variety of means, or could they have been so free to use these means, of going forth for the encompassing all nations, for colonizing all the ends of the earth, for sowing the seeds of peaceful industry in every variety of soil, among every people, and under every clime. If there hath been unfaithfulness, it hath been on the part of man, not on the part of the Father of Israel: who, while Ephraim was yet a great way off, hath met and dealt with him as his first-born. And equally faithful as He hath been in the past, will He be in the future unto his promising word. It shall not return unto him void. It will bring back the people after whom it was sent. They will return with it in their hands, their understandings, their hearts, and their mouths. From all the ends of the earth will they return unto that land, which hath been lying desolate without them, to their central inland position; from which branch out the great continents of the old world, together with seas between, whereby maritime communication may still be freely held with the coasts of these continents, north or south; and, as well, with the more newly discovered portions of our globe, in the east and the west. This, with the blessing of the Lord, will be found as eminently fitted for the being a radiating centre, in the time and circum

stances which are approaching, as has been their present abode in those that are past, for their being sown over the earth-for the depositing their seed in many waters.

God hath been overruling their working: The merchant and manufacturer sought their gain, and the soldier his glory, and the politician aimed after power. Even among those whose service might be expected to be more directly towards the Lord, there have not been a few who have been looking "every man for his gain from his quarter." Many have been seeking to gratify their own whim, or have merely been indulging a restless spirit of adventure: But God hath been overruling it all. His purpose shall stand, and He will do all His pleasure.

This manner of proceeding, however, in which men have been build-" ing for themselves, and planting for themselves, is not that which is to be: a great and important change is to be effected in the motives of men, powerfully influencing their conduct, and resulting in the greatest good to man, and much glory to the Supreme Dispenser of blessing. The rule which Christ taught his disciples, but which hath been so long neglected, is now to be followed, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." They shall seek righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost: and, acknowledging their sins, and the sins of their fathers, for which they were cast out of his inheritance, they shall lay hold upon his strength: He had said they may make peace with Him; yea, He hath said,

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They shall make peace with Me." The place of His throne hath long borne the name of Peace in vain; yet there will He command the blessing as at the first; and joy in the Holy Ghost shall abound, so that sorrow and sighing shall flee away. And all those things shall be added which are necessary or good, even for the physical enjoyment of the people of God. When Israel, as Israel, are in the case described-not seeking first the corn,

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